Orphaned no more

For the better part of the past four years, Karachi has been like a political orphan, with neither the provincial nor the federal government paying more than scant attention to it. All the while its potholed roads developed more craters, sewage and garbage littered its streets and its transportation woes multiplied. Its infrastructure has been tottering on the edge of collapse. Law and order is perhaps the one noticeable area of improvement in the megalopolis since the 2013 election. But the credit for that surely goes to the paramilitary Rangers and the backing they received specifically from the ex-chief of the military General Raheel Sharif. The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was as far removed from the Karachi Operation as possible. From time to time, little else but perfunctory statements and gestures were made by the ruling party about the operation – none of them reasonable or convincing.

So the shock was palpable when earlier this week the Governor of Sindh Mohammad Zubair declared publicly that his party boss Nawaz Sharif was the one who had brought Karachi out of lawlesslessness. Hyperbole aside, the claim reeked of political partisanship that hardly suits the holder of any constitutional or public office. But the present governor is neither the first nor the last one to call for accolades for their party or leader. Political cheering serves a purpose when one knows for a fact who deserves praise and for what. Like bad music, it is especially jarring when it is richly undeserved. As the next general election approaches, political parties have suddenly woken up to the problems faced by this great city. On Friday alone, four political groupings, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, staged protests to raise different civic issues. For the well-wishers of Karachi, any signs of political ownership are welcome - even if it comes rather belatedly. The electorate – not just in Karachi but in other cities as well - has suffered long enough. The stakes are just as high.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2017.

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